By Bernie Miklasz
‘Tis the season of rampant speculation by national football pundits, so as the Rams prepare for their 3 p.m. game against the Buffalo Bills, I thought I’d take a few minutes to clear up some misleading information being reported on various Sunday-morning cable shows.
Here is Scott Linehan’s job status, and I have excellent sources on this:
* If the Rams play poorly today, if the Rams play without fire or emotion today, if it’s another bad loss — then Linehan will be fired.
* If the Rams upset the Bills today, Linehan will stay — at least for now. And this is an important point. If Linehan makes it to the bye week, it doesn’t mean he’ll survive the remainder of the season. He could go at anytime; if his team gets slaughtered in any of the upcoming games, Linehan won’t last.
* The only thing that could change this equation — Linehan stays with a win over Buffalo — is some occurence behind the scenes. That’s difficult for me to define. But let’s talk hypotehticals: suppose there’s an ugly post-game incident between the coach and his coordinators, or that the players’ take their (mostly) silent rebellion to the next level? Suppose there’s a hostile meeting between Linehan and the owner, Chip Rosenbloom? Again, I fully believe Linehan will stay if the Rams win Sunday. Unless he blows a gasket after the game, or something like that.
* The most difficult thing to assess is this: suppose the Rams play reasonably well, and fight hard, and lose a heartbreaker to the Bills? Does Linehan stay or go? The key figures in the Rams organization are wrestling with that. No advance determination has been made on this scenario. It’s a mistake to assume that Linehan is gone if the Rams lose a close one. Close loss? He’s on the bubble.
Two other things:
1. If Linehan goes, the choice for the interim comes down to offensive coordinator Al Saunders or defensive coordinator Jim Haslett. And the slight edge goes to Haslett.
2. If Linehan is fired this week, general manager Jay Zygmunt won’t be part of the move. One way or another, he will last the season unless he chooses not to. But do not misinterpret this. This does not mean Zygmunt is safe as the team moves forward, to 2009. The organizational power structure will change after the season.
-B
